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Alexa PhilippouESPN
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- Covers women’s college basketball and WNBA.
- Previously covered UConn and the WNBA Connecticut Sun for the Hartford Courant.
- Stanford graduate and Baltimore native with further experience at the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and Cincinnati Enquirer.
STORRS, Connecticut. University of California, Connecticut women’s basketball coach Jeno Oriemma said he thinks he’s seen it all this season, with his team riddled with injuries for most of the campaign and losing the most games before the NCAA Tournament the program has seen since. since. 2004-05.
But Monday’s slugfest against a former UCF conference opponent in front of one of the busiest Gempel Pavilion crowds in recent memory, with a seat in the Sweet 16 on the line?
“It was a pretty new experience for me,” Auriemma said.
Despite a season-high 29.2% from the field, the Huskies pulled off a 52-47 win in which they trailed by eight early on, pulled back 12 in the middle of the fourth, and then allowed the Knights to fall back within three with less than a minute to go.
In a season where many of UConn’s historic streaks have been cut (consecutive games without losing to an unranked opponent, years after losing a conference), one of the program’s most impressive streaks remains intact: The Huskies have now reached the Sweet 16 in a record 28 consecutive NCAA tournaments. They play Indiana, the first meeting in program history, on Saturday at 2:00 pm ET in Bridgeport, Conn., for a spot in the Elite Eight.
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“Not only the tough games, but also the challenges we faced off the court helped us prepare. [to battle Monday]” said Huskies freshman guard Azzie Fudd, who scored four triples to finish with a team-high 16 points.
Meanwhile, UCF (26-4) ended a historic season in which it earned its first regular season and AAC tournament titles and won its first NCAA tournament game over Florida in the first round.
The Huskies racked up a slew of points throughout the competition, scoring just two out of 12 layup attempts.
But the UCF also let the game slip through poor free throw conversion (10 out of 20). This included a pair of misses from the charity streak with 2:21 remaining that could have cut the gap to three, and another set with 22 seconds left in just three (with the second penalty canceled due to a lane violation).
UConn’s 52 points were the fewest NCAA tournament wins in program history.
The Huskies have been intimately familiar with the UCF’s physical style of play from their days in the American Athletic Conference from 2013 to 2020, when Auriemma’s teams won the series 13-0. Recently returned from spring break, and fans just as eager to watch what looked more like a boxing match than a basketball game, the intensity skyrocketed.
The Knights struck first and went 17–9 up before UConn responded with their own lead. In one game early in the first quarter, reigning Nationals of the Year Paige Buckers and Taye Sanders continued to challenge for the dropped ball even after the referees blew their whistle before Bukers turned to the crowd and raised her hands to cheer the fans.
Three players committed fouls (UConn’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Alia Edwards, and UCF’s Alisha Lewis) before the end of the night, with several others committing four each.
“We expected to be physically fit, but I don’t think they expected us to be that physical,” said UCF defender Diamond Battles, who scored 12 points. “We went out and did what we do best. Resilience, that’s who we are. UCF is a strong, solid team and we will always be. played like this for 40 minutes.
Auriemma offered her share.
“There are times when you’re just in a rock fight and you just have to find a way to get through it,” he said. “And there are other times when it feels like you’re at a ballet and no one is touching anyone.”
Monday’s performance was definitely not a ballet.
The Knights, who came into the game boasting the most prolific defense in the country, didn’t outperform UConn, but their pressing and aggressive defense slowed him down and disrupted his offensive play. And when the Huskies managed to look good, and they did more and more as the game progressed, they missed as usual. They were also completely neutralized in the paint, where they scored only 10 points.
For a team that tends to win handily, UConn had no choice but to outmaneuver the Knights if they wanted to move to Bridgeport. The Huskies went on the defensive and improved offensively, slowly but surely advancing by double digits at the start of the fourth round.
“We just fought back,” said UConn high school Christine Williams, who scored 12 points. “It was the only thing we could really do was just hold on and fight back. And that’s exactly what happened: we just kept hitting, and eventually they backed off.”
However, UCF had another run using nine unanswered to make a one possession game with a minute to play, but between missed free throws and 4 of 4 UConn finished from the foul line thanks to Williams and Fudd. Huskies will live to play another game.
“Resilience is about doing all those free throws at the end,” Auriemma said. “Resilience is a huge rebound in a big moment. Resilience is what Christine [early in the fourth to put UConn up by 11] when she should have done it. And I think we showed it. I think everything else was just fluff.”
Further, the road for the husky will not become easier; Indiana is waiting, and then if they come forward, the winner of the NC State ACC Championship against Notre Dame with a trip to Minneapolis within reach.
The Huskies will have to play closer to the best version of themselves to get through this gauntlet, though for a team that has managed to overcome yet another bout of adversity, it’s a lesson nonetheless.
“There’s something to be said about you being able to win a game that you’ll probably look back and say I don’t know how we won that game, but we did,” Auriemma said.